Federica:

[0:01] It's incredible because seeing leaders people that are used to lead hundreds of of other reportees and you can tell after some time they are in the session they just themselves they are just thinking about what's going on in front of

Federica:

[0:21] them they are laughing when their cup like collapses on one side. And that love is exactly what keeps me going. That's the reason why I want them to participate and to feel that it's not about the end result. It's about the process. It's about being there. So that's why I never talk about these sessions as art classes. I always talk about them as mindful art experiences, because those are just ways to unwind and be in the present moment.

Debbie:

[0:57] Welcome to Skin in the Game. I'm Debbie Goh. On this show, we speak with leaders, founders, and changemakers about the real decisions, risk, and turning points that shape not only their work, but who they become along the way. Today, I'm joined by Federica Perry, founder of Handmade Ikigai. After years at Google and Meta, she is now building Handmade Ikigai, a business centered on mindful creativity, presence, and creating with intention. In this conversation, we explore what it takes to leave behind a successful corporate path, why mindful creativity can become a powerful leadership tool, and what it means to build a business that helps people slow down, reconnect with themselves, and lead with greater presence. Federica, welcome to Skin in the Game.

Federica:

[1:51] Hi, Debbie. Thank you so much for having me.

Debbie:

[1:54] For listeners who are meeting you for the first time, how would you describe Handmade Ikigai in one sentence?

Federica:

[2:02] Handmade Ikigai is definitely a lot of things to me, but I would say in one sentence is a mindful art creativity platform for busy, overwhelmed minds.

Debbie:

[2:13] A lot of us would resonate with that description.

Debbie:

[2:17] Now, Federica, you managed over $20 million in portfolios at Google and previously worked at Meta. So building something entirely your own must have come with a real price. Beyond the financial leap, what was the personal cost of making that decision?

Federica:

[2:34] I think that the biggest personal cost is definitely not having a safety net under me. Whenever you're building your own business, you don't have any reassurance that is going to work. And when working in a big tech company, of course, you have stability, financial stability, but also career growth stability. So knowing what success looks like, what are the KPIs you measure against, right? When building your own business, you are the one that defines that. So you have to deal with much, much more uncertainty. And so I would say that the biggest personal cost is dealing with uncertainty with no guaranteed outcome. But honestly, I feel that if you look at my LinkedIn, you'll see an immigrant from Italy moving to the US, landing a dream career at Meta and Google, and then having a baby, finding purpose and building a home startup.

Federica:

[3:35] However, what it doesn't say is that I already had to deal with so much uncertainty. For example, when I moved to the U.S. 10 years ago, I knew English just limited in a limited way. I didn't have connections. So I built everything from scratch. And being an immigrant, though, means that your career, it's never fully yours because you always need to make sure that bureaucratic wise, everything is in place. And sometimes even when doing everything right, your, my work authorization expired a couple of times and it wasn't my fault, right? It's just like sometimes delays happened.

Federica:

[4:15] And so the first time I remember I was at Google, I just started and I was just waiting, laying on my sofa and I didn't know, I was like feeling very sad, didn't know what to do. I didn't know who I was without my role at Google because I was identifying as my company, right? And so actually that was something that really helped me a lot because I understood that it wasn't healthy for me. And when it happened again the second time, I was on maternity leave many years later with a different point of view on things and priorities, even though I had always been very ambitious.

Federica:

[4:57] That time, I didn't know how long it was going to take. And so I decided to just double down on my education, invest on Stanford League that you know very well, while my son was just a newborn and was asleep. And so in that situation, I was dealing with a lot of uncertainty and kind of a burnout from everything going on. And creativity, practicing paintings or pottery is what really helped me out. And so when the choice became finally mine and I got my work authorization back, I decided to build something that could help other leaders that are in the same situation feel they could pause, be present and deal with anxiety by doing creative projects. And so that's why I decided to found a Medici Guide. And so just one quick note, sometimes, you know, what looks the personal cost or what looks like very difficult situation to manage, like a lot of uncertainty in our lives, can actually be our greatest way to go out of our comfort zone and build something out of it.

Debbie:

[6:10] I can resonate with what you just said about how we sometimes define ourselves by the work that we do, but our worth is so much more. And I love what you said about having that time to pause and reflect on what you want to do with your life. You've shared that Harvard research showing that we spend about 47% of our waking hours mentally drifting to the past or future. You've also said that you felt this personally when you were in Google. So can you pinpoint the moment when you realized you were no longer fully present in your own life? The moment that made you change course.

Federica:

[6:51] But I think that if you ask this question, almost everyone would say that it's really hard to live the present moment and to feel present 100% of the time. We spend half of our weekend hours dealing on past or future, and this really arms our mental health. I thought it was normal until I took this course at Stanford LEAD from Professor Kramer. I don't know if you're familiar with that. It's called Life of Consequences. And I did this Zimbardo quiz. And basically what came out of that was that I was living in the present, but almost like constantly thinking about what's in the future. So not like living that much in the past, but in the future. And when I started in that course, I realized so many things and so many behaviors I had in the past. For example, the very first time that I could say, OK, I'm not able to live in the present moment that well was when I was at Google. I was working on getting promoted and it was my only goal. I was really thinking only about that. And when it finally came, I remember I was excited, incredibly excited for 10 minutes. And then I started to think, what's next now?

Federica:

[8:12] That's when I realized that there was something wrong, but it just kept going because still it wasn't. It's kind of the Western approach that we have of thinking about going fast and what's next in life. And.

Federica:

[8:27] The second time I can pinpoint that is probably when I was on maternity leave and I was always thinking about the next milestone for my son. And instead of living the present, living everything that was happening in that moment, like what should I do as a parent next, right? Like what type of game should I do in order to make him feel actively engaged? And also, I was doing that while studying for Stanford LEAD, and I realized that in that specific moment, a friend of mine was doing pottery, and she asked me to join her at a studio. And so I decided to join her, and that changed my life completely, because I already knew that practicing painting or creativity in general was very relaxing to me. But in that situation, that moment of my life, while I was on maternity leave, I was feeling alone and I needed something to feel myself. And after dedicating just a few hours at the studio doing pottery, I was coming home just feeling fully recharged.

Federica:

[9:39] And that's when I realized how important that was for me.

Debbie:

[9:43] Now, the Ikigai diagram, we know it's famous for four circles, what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and when you can be paid for. Many people may find the first two, but bridging the gap to a sustainable income is the hardest part. For you, how long did it take for Handmade Ikigai's business model to catch up for this philosophy? And what was the hardest part of building that bridge?

Federica:

[10:08] Well, honestly, I think it's still catching up and I have to be transparent about that. I think it's good to say that out loud because many times as a founder, I see other founders, especially on LinkedIn, really posting about how incredible its founder's life and how easy they were able to get to their goals. But I know for sure that it takes like on average two, three years for startup to get profitable. And before that, I think that the biggest, the hardest part is not even that and it's not even the idea. I think that the hardest part is the patience. It's the patience of staying committed to the vision that we have and even when the number don't reflect that. That I think is the biggest challenge in this phase. And so what keeps me going is knowing that I'm solving a problem that it's real. I know many people that don't feel present. They struggle with going out of the autopilot mode. And that's why I created Unmiky Guide to help other people, just like I help myself with that, to feel better, more present and ground.

Debbie:

[11:24] At a time when so many of our lives and so many people are into digital, even virtual, you've built experiences around play and the act of making. So I would say your model is about pausing, creating and reflecting. And it's such a contrast to the corporate rhythm of, you know, you learn, you optimize, you perform. Is the act of making by hands very essential to this philosophy and how does that creative process actually help someone step out of that constant state of thinking, worrying?

Federica:

[11:58] I feel that I didn't choose this philosophy. It's kind of like it chose me in a moment of when I need it. And I come from, you know, Italy and it had always been running fast behind your next project or your next career and your next job position. And it's kind of, as I mentioned earlier, the Western approach, right? And so I think that what really helped me was I picked up pottery and painting when I needed to detach and be present. So I was not looking for a philosophy. It was really a need of mine. And I built An Medici Guide to also help other people feel this way. What happens is that being creative with your own hands is scientifically proven that it helps you lower cortisol levels and enables your prefrontal cortex for critical and analytical thinking. So that's why practicing creativity, working with your hands is scientifically proven to help you out.

Debbie:

[13:09] So there's something about being physical or grounding yourself that lower the cortisol. Can you tell us what happens if someone is stuck into stress mode or fight or flight? What is happening in the brain? And how can working with something physical like clay, as you said, pottery, or even the repairing process through Kintsugi class that you have, help bring the mind and body back into balance?

Federica:

[13:36] So basically, when we are in a fight or flight mode, our prefrontal cortex that, as I mentioned, is the part of our brain that handles the rational thinking goes offline. What takes over is our amygdala. The amygdala is the part of our brain. It's kind of the alarm system. And so basically, our body doesn't recognize anxiety from a talk or fear of a lion. So it's really important that we do activities and we have strategies that we can use when that happens. For example, there are studies that I looked into in order to, you know, before funding my own startup that shows that practicing creativity can really help that out. So even just after 45 minutes, 75% of the participants to these studies that engage in a creative activity lower their cortisol level.

Federica:

[14:37] And 78% after 45 minutes show a level of anxiety that were reduced significantly. And also 83% said that they were able to better express their emotion. So they were feeling much more aware of their emotions and what they were feeling in that situation and you know i think that we, We don't need a lot of time. We don't need 45 minutes. We don't need hours. Even five, 15-minute activities, you know, we all have this amount of time in a day, right? Can really help enhance focus and enhance your mood. So that's why, for example, I created a newsletter for my B2B part of the business that gives some tips and activities to leaders that want to lower the level of anxiety, but also want to help their team do that. And so these activities they can do, for example, before team meetings or highly stressful events, and that can be very helpful.

Debbie:

[15:50] You offer curated experiences in mindful pottery, kintsugi, textured art, each inviting a different way of slowing down. Now, pottery is central to your work, right? So I'd love to start there. Where does the mindful pottery experience unlock for people emotionally and mentally? And how is it different from what people discover through the other kintsugi or textured art that you have?

Federica:

[16:16] So all our experiences have a mindful approach. And they are all backed by an art therapist. So I really wanted to create something that was, we all know that now that creativity can help you be more present, but I also wanted to integrate the help of an art therapist to feel even more grounded, to have a full experience. So all our experiences, both B2B and B2C, on B2B, I refer to, for example, team building, corporate events. And on B2C, I refer to, we have physical kits that we sell on our website that include all experiences like pottery, kintsuji, and texture art that include a full experience. So it's not like a box with step-by-step instruction how to make this project or this other project. There are full workshops or audio guides that can guide you through the experience. So how we usually unfold all of three is we start with breathing exercises and mindfulness with the material. And this is incredible when it comes to pottery because the clay has such a texture that it's like natural. It's for its temperature. It's very engaging to people when we do that.

Federica:

[17:34] And after they do that, it's just the first five, 10 minutes. I can see already they are so relaxed. And then we do most of this session is in the creative side of it. So what I do is I usually guide them. I provide inspiration cards. I provide inputs. I never say how to do projects step by step because I want people to experiment and not to feel the pressure of creating something perfect, right? But if they want to create something specifically, we are there to guide them all the time. And then we close all these sessions with a self-reflection and sharing. This is, I think, the most impactful part of the workshop because people, I can see them becoming more aware why others share of how they felt throughout the exercise. And actually, that's also backed by science, because we know that when we pair creative activity with reflection, we increase the resilience of people and self-efficacy. So this is especially good when applied to corporate leadership events or for leaders to practice with their teams.

Debbie:

[18:51] Is there a minimum or maximum number of participants in order to have that optimum sharing level you discuss?

Federica:

[18:58] So I would say even just as low as four people, it's fine. But even less, probably even three, because it's really about having a shared experience and then hearing other point of views on how they felt. And what I've seen the most, and actually what I see in myself as well, is that some people try to, control everything, right? Like they try to build the perfect object, but if you set the right expectations, you see the shift. And so helping them to step out of that, that usual mode that they probably have at work or in life is such a relief. And I speak for myself because I'm definitely one of those.

Debbie:

[19:45] You like to have that perfect work of art at the end of the workshop. I wanted to ask for our listeners as well, Federica, what is the role of an art therapist for people who would like to know more? Because this sounds very different from the other workshops.

Federica:

[20:00] Yeah, so art therapists are therapists that help people dealing with trauma through art. Of course, this is not the case and this is not what we do in our workshops. These are all therapeutic, non-therapeutic experiences. So sometimes they guide the experience. Some other times we just discuss and everything that we do is backed by them so that we are sure that we provide the best grounding experience for everybody. So that's definitely not therapy, but it helps them feel much more grounded.

Debbie:

[20:38] Another thing people might ask is, hey, maybe I can achieve the same mental reset from creating something digitally, say, designing in Figma or writing code. Is there something different about being physical, about your hands, the act of making that the brain needs in order to full reset?

Federica:

[20:57] So I think that everybody has to find their own way to unwind. But there are studies that show that when engaging tactile activity, what happens in the brain is that we go out of the language mode. And so whenever you're doing coding or digitally working on a project, yes, that might be relaxing to you, but we are still problem solving because we're still on a laptop and we are still using a language mode. Whereas when you use your hands, you're not in that space anymore. So what happens is that the amygdala instantly comes down by the touching experience. And that's why most of the times we get the best ideas when doing something else, right? And it doesn't apply only to heart. You could also do cooking. So for example, many people love cooking because they feel relaxed. That's not the case for me. I'm not good at cooking and that's why I do art. It's just about finding the right activity, and I think that a tactile activity can really be different from everything that happens on a level.

Debbie:

[22:14] You're right, because once you're in a language mode, you're still problem-solving

Debbie:

[22:18] for sure, and that stress level is still there. You've run workshops for teams, leaders, after a session where you see that measurable drop in cortisol. Yeah. What's the most surprising or immediate shift you notice in the room's dynamic?

Federica:

[22:34] Yeah, it's incredible because seeing leaders, people that are used to lead hundreds of other reportees, and you can tell after some time they are in the session, they just themselves, they are just thinking about what's going on in front of them. They are laughing when their cup like collapses on one side. And that love is exactly what keeps me going. That's the reason why I want them to participate and to feel that it's not about the end result. It's about the process. It's about being there. So that's why I never talk about these sessions as art classes. I always talk about them as mindful art experiences because those are just ways

Federica:

[23:26] to unwind and be in the present moment.

Debbie:

[23:29] And I know that the Handmade Ikigai was born during your Stanford Lead GSB journey and then developed further with Lisa Incubator. Being surrounded by other founders can be really energizing. But looking back, what was one piece of feedback that materially changed or improved what Handmade Ikigai is today?

Federica:

[23:52] My experience at Lisa was incredible. It was great to meet other founders, especially because everybody was in a different stage. I was just in the idea stage and I was so inspired by everybody's journeys. And I definitely got good feedback. So there are two instances where I was, I really changed way to think. So the first feedback I got from my design thinking mentor was.

Federica:

[24:22] And it's a bit controversial, but it makes sense 100%. Basically, she told me, don't think about scalability since day one. And I was like, why shouldn't I think about scalability? I mean, the business has to scale, has to be what's in my mind. But then what she meant was before thinking about that, you need to think if product market fit, what problems are you solving? Are people willing to pay? There's so much more. And what she meant was do not sacrifice why you're building this, your values. So it's okay to start it in a smaller way and then figure it out how you can scale. But the most important thing is to follow your values. And that for me was so inspiring and true. And then the second feedback, I got it from one of the judges. So basically we were pitching we were practicing our pitch in order to get selected to as the finalists they were going to pitch him at doing me to be in front of in person in front of everyone and i remember on pitch tryout number two uh the investor judge at some point told me okay federica this is wonderful but where is the prototype.

Federica:

[25:41] And I was like, yeah, I don't know. You know, it's not ready. I had to find the best manufacturers because I wanted to do my own brand since day one. So I didn't want to use other brands' products inside my kits. I wanted to develop my own brand. And so I had to find manufacturers. I had to navigate. All of this was new to me. I was never in this industry, right? And so at some point I understood that I had to build a prototype and so what I did for my following pitch was I got the competitor kit I mean the experience was completely different right because it's mindful art experience and I try out with friends and family and I got incredible feedback very helpful and so that was very insightful feedback that I got because I was waiting for the perfect product

Federica:

[26:40] while I had to test out many things before getting there.

Debbie:

[26:46] Interesting journey, Federica. In Me2We this year, you've presented mindful creativity as a leadership tool at that event. In a room full of high-achieving leaders, what questions or reactions stayed with you afterward?

Federica:

[27:01] First of all, thank you so much for that opportunity. It was such an incredible experience to me. I felt so energized while I was doing it and afterwards. So to tell you a little bit more about the talk, this talk was about mindful creativity as a leadership tool, as you said. And I was providing three practical tools and exercises to leaders that they could use before highly stressful situations, either for themselves or for their team. So we started the conversation by sharing science-backed benefits of mindful creative.

Federica:

[27:42] And integrating these in our leadership. And then we went through these three activities and I could see people were incredibly relaxed and they were losing track of time. And by the end, we went much longer than our session because we got many questions. And the feedback that stayed with me was that sometimes the rarest leadership skill, it's not about moving faster, but it's about me being more grounded and intentional so having practicing more soft skills versus hard skills because we all focus towards these hard skills and that's actually what we are measured on but being empathic being able to help your team and building psychological safety. All these tools are meant to help leaders do that. And another person said it was a February talk and of the conference that was so, you know, so incredible for me to hear because, you know, sometimes we forget about focusing on these soft skills. So it was the same theme of soft skills versus art skills.

Federica:

[28:59] It sparked a very good conversation. I had people asking me questions about the founder's journey, how it is going from big tech to build your own business. So it was such an incredible discussion.

Debbie:

[29:14] In an age of AI-driven world, having that soft skill is so much more important as a leader, as you said. I think that's where we should focus moving forward.

Debbie:

[29:25] When you imagine the handmade ikigai community five years from now, what is that one aspect of its culture? Your hope never changes, no matter how big it grows.

Federica:

[29:36] I would love all our experiences are meant to create a conversation and to make people feel they are not a number, right? So they are there and in order to meet other people, to have a conversation, share how they felt throughout the experience and unwind. So what I really hope that, you know, once and if it's going to scale, we are going to be able to maintain that. And we don't sacrifice that feeling of meaning and with you know trying to scale or trying to focus more on step-by-step instructions because it would be much easier so I would say just keeping smaller groups where people can feel they can share it's definitely what I what I hope is gonna go.

Debbie:

[30:30] As someone who has worked in major tech companies, what is your relationship now with technology?

Federica:

[30:37] So I work on my laptop all day long. That's why I still need a lot of creative poses myself. And I spend at least half of day during the weekend at, you know, either at the studio or at home to do creative projects, mainly with potty. So I'm optimizing my workflows in order to spend as little time as possible on my laptop or on social media and I'm becoming more and more intentional to leave my phone in another room when my family is home and especially I have hours in mind you know after a certain hour I just leave the phone in the bedroom and that's it especially after finding my own business I created my my instagram page as well for and medicky guy and i work a lot on creating the content it's basically another job and so sometimes it's hard not to check you know the performance of a reel or the reactions or just you know building the following in there but i try really hard not to do that. I just leave my phone, as I mentioned, in another room and then I go and check the next day when I need. So I think that being aware of that is definitely important.

Debbie:

[32:04] Closing, let's go back to the title of the show, Skin in the Game. It means having real stakes. So as a founder, what is the one thing about building Handmade Ikigai that keeps you up at night? And why does that very same thing also reassure you that you're on the right path?

Federica:

[32:21] Well, what keeps me up at night is to build something that can be helpful for others. And I think I'm on the right track every time I have a session and I see that people leave laughing or leave inspired and creating something that can have a real impact. And that's my purpose. The purpose of why I created An Medici Guy and I created something that was helpful to me. Actually, when I was in a difficult situation, I couldn't find something that helped me the way that I was looking for. So, for example, when I was on maternity leave, I felt kind of alone, as I mentioned earlier. But I couldn't find any community where I could meet with other people, create something. And so I think that when I see that I'm doing that for others now, that's when I understand that I'm building something that I'm very proud of. And what keeps me up at night is to make it more and more perfect.

Federica:

[33:28] Pass me the term, but better with time.

Debbie:

[33:31] I asked you this question, Federica, when we met each other at Stanford. What makes your workshop different from the other workshop? And you gave me this absolutely great answer. I'd like you to share that to our listeners now.

Federica:

[33:50] Yes, of course. So our workshops are different from other art workshops because the focus, it's not about the projects that you are going to make and you're going to build. It's about inspiring people either on my founder's journey or on just feeling that they are losing track of time that is the feeling that I live every time I'm on my creative journey either if it's like three hours I don't know how much time has passed by or even just for 10 minutes I want to help people feel that way. And I think that with our approach backed by an art therapist, we can really create a different type of experience compared to all other art workshops, the traditional ones, I would say.

Debbie:

[34:45] Thank you so much, Federica. I think what stayed with me from this conversation is the reminder that slowing down is not the same as stepping back. And sometimes, you know, slowing down is how we return to ourselves. It is how we listen more clearly, lead more authentically, and create from a place that feels more grounded and alive. Thanks, Federica.

Federica:

[35:06] Thank you so much, Debbie. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Debbie:

[35:09] So in a world that constantly pushes us to move faster, do more, stay switched on, your work invites people to pause, reconnect, and create a more present place. So thank you for sharing your journey and the deeper intention behind Handmade Ikigai. To everyone listening, thank you for joining us on Skin in a Game. If this conversation resonated with me, share it with someone who might need a reminder that presence is not passive and slowing down can be its own kind of strength. Until next time, I'm Debbie Go.